Friday, November 01, 2002 - STEVENSON RANCH -- Desperate to prevent a 400-year-old oak tree from being chopped down, an environmental activist scaled it Friday and prepared to sit there until a deal is reached to save the majestic tree.

Alerted by members of the Santa Clarita Organization for Planning and the Environment about the potential destruction of the heritage oak tree, John Quigley of Pacific Palisades climbed the massive tree just before 7 a.m., hours after an agreement protecting the tree on Pico Canyon Road expired.

"I'll be up here as long as it takes," Quigley said, via a walkie-talkie from about 50 feet above the ground. "This tree is older than any of us, and there's no reason for it to be cut down."

Down below, other environmentalists protested plans that call for the tree to be cut down to expand Pico Canyon Road. After tying yellow ribbons to the orange mesh fence surrounding the oak, they urged drivers to honk in support.

"This tree is a symbol of all of the trees we've already lost and all the trees we're not going to be able to save," said Cynthia Neal-Harris, vice president of the Santa Clarita Oaks Conservancy.

The county Department of Public Works has been looking into the issue for several days but has yet to find a solution, officials said.

The Santa Clarita City Council will discuss the matter at its Tuesday study session and may vote to urge Los Angeles County officials to reduce the size of Pico Canyon Road -- the main thoroughfare in the planned community west of Santa Clarita -- or reroute it away from the oak tree.

"We need to be more creative," said Councilwoman Laurene Weste, who participated in the early morning rally. "No one wants to decimate Pico Canyon."

John Laing Homes, the builder of the Southern Oaks 279-home subdivision, promised not to cut down the tree near Whispering Oak Avenue until after the council meeting.

"We don't want to make this road any bigger, and our homeowners don't want this road any bigger," said division president Bill Ratazzi. "We'd be very happy not to cut that tree down, but we need to reach an agreement quickly."

The development cannot be completed until Pico Canyon Road, which has been under construction for months, is expanded to four lanes. That is tying up millions of dollars in road improvement bonds, Ratazzi said.

Eventually, Pico Canyon Road is slated to be extended to State Route 126 to relieve congestion in the rapidly developing area west of the Golden State Freeway, which includes the proposed 21,600-home Newhall Ranch project.

Mayor Frank Ferry said he would oppose any plan to reduce Pico Canyon Road to two lanes because it would force hundreds of cars onto I-5 and city streets.

"We have to strike a balance between the environment and the quality of life of our residents," Ferry said. "The reality is that the cars are coming."

Lennar Communities -- the developer of Stevenson Ranch -- has submitted plans to county officials that would reduce the size of the road and spare the tree as part of its proposal for the development of the fifth phase of the community.

However, it is expected to be several years before those plans are approved, county officials said.

The obvious solution to resolve the situation quickly is to separate the road issue from the development, Ratazzi said.

"I'm hopeful that we can reach an agreement and save the tree," Ratazzi said. "I don't need any more firewood."

Transcending Single Issue and Reformists Politics at the Santa Clarita Treesit

[note: there was a post on this urging people to write to council people that seems no longer to be up. some of the following is responding to that approach]

“Write a letter to your local politicians!” proclaims the reformist as an act of defiance is made, in this case a treesit. My dear reformist, you are at best but a drug that may temporarily alleviate a symptom but not eradicate the root source of a problem. Shall we pander and beg to the politicians that give the ‘go ahead’ to such development projects on a regular basis? Shall we diffuse our energies in the run-out dead-end of politics? I say not. For those who have observed such games played out, it should be obvious that letters will do little to quell the onslaught of civilization.

The ecological struggle is not merely some anthropocentric rhetoric about “heritage”. It is a life and death struggle. To speak in such verbiage as “heritage” is to reinforce a view of human domination, to speak in terms of the ideology of human supremacy. To recognize the sacredness of all life and redefine our relationships in such terms would be a step toward ending the exploitation of this earth. This redefining poses a threat to the mentality that allows for destruction, like development projects.

The plan is to build some new yuppie “town” (with chemical golf course – the green cancer, man-made lake, etc.), which is another example of the rich desecrating wilderness so they can have their country estate. Class warfare anyone?

A look at the players.

Any developer especially one like Ratazzi, with comments like “I don’t need anymore firewood” (referring to sparing the tree currently occupied) deserve to be put out of business.
"We need to be more creative," said Councilwoman Laurene Weste, who participated in the early morning rally. "No one wants to decimate Pico Canyon."
There is no “creative” way of developing Pico Canyon without decimating it. Obviously the politician is using this issue as a PR move to boost her voter approval, because it’s hip to be sensitive the environment. Let’s not let her improve her career at our or the bioregions expense.
"We have to strike a balance between the environment and the quality of life of our residents," Ferry said. "The reality is that the cars are coming."
Mayor Ferry thinks we need the road to relieve congestion. We don’t need anymore roads, we need an end to the tyranny of the automobile. That oil guzzling chunk of rolling metal. Tell me Mr. Ferry what of the quality of life of the current residents? What of the coyote, the sagebrush, the bobcat, and the multitude of other life forms to be killed? Maybe someone could steal a bulldozer and level Mr. Ferry’s house with family inside to give him some perspective of the environmental stability that is underway for the plants and animals of Pico Canyon. Mr. Perry, just in case your delusional smog filled head is unable to capture the absurdity of your comment, let me elucidate. To approve such as disaster is to disrupt the environmental balance. This is not about striking a compromise between business needs and the earth, our fate is inextricably tied to that of this planet, the more this planet is destroyed the more we approach our own demise. If your idea of “quality of life” is ‘the green cancer’, spewing smog mobiles, alienated humans kept in uniform boxes produced with industrial chemicals; then I suggest you fulfill a more functional purpose and hang yourself from one of those oaks. At least this way you add to the clutter in the way of the development.
Why is there such a defeatist attitude amongst the conservationist interviewed in the news article? Let’s not stop with one tree, lets put down the whole project. This action has potential to do much more than save oak trees, as essential as that is. This treesit could evolve into a community of resistance with blockades and tunneling, acting as a catalyst for radicalizing members of the community. The occupied space could be an opportunity to break out of current social relations to relate on our own terms outside the hierarchical structure of the matrix. This could be a rallying point for resistance to empire expansion and the ecocide that results. It can be an opportunity to expand critique of the self-destructive direction of capitalism as it converts wilderness to wasteland. At the very least we should be able to incur damages and expenses to these scum and let those who plan developments know they can expect resistance and retribution. If we can’t face them with an occupation, let’s get them in the night. Sabotage anyone?

Developers go build in hell! – http://www.angelfire.com/empire/meltdown/developement.html

For info. on road protesting, tunneling, etc. check out: http://www.angelfire.com/empire/meltdown/

No Compromise! By the way where is all the So Cal Earth Firsters!?

It’s up to y’all what your going to make of this. Show up.

I want to thank the guy in the tree for bringing this to our attention. Please don't cut down the 400 year old oak tree!! That is a beautiful tree and the road can always be built around it.

SAVE THE OAK TREE!!!

I feel like I need to bring up the point that this is not just about one beautiful 400 year old oak tree.... this is not about convenience for Newhall Land and their fucking endless pavement and cracker jack houses.
If anybody who lives in the Valencia/Castaic/Pico Canyon area simply looks around on their drive home from work they see this destruction everyday, it did not just suddenly begin when they marked this tree off to be cut. How do you think all of these houses in the booming suburb of Valencia have gotten here? - by cutting down four hundred year old oak trees and hillsides and meadows and river beds.
This tree is an amazing symbol and I'm so glad that this sit has happened. But it should be realized that it was put up in a LAST DITCH effort to make people do something about what they see everyday.
I also want to let people know that this is happening all over the world. Sometimes to build sub-divisions and sometimes for planks.... 400 year old oaks, 1,000 year old Redwoods and Douglas Firs..... pines, maples... Everything in this world is being used up for the sake of our consumption. It begins with us and our energy. What we buy, what we eat, where we choose to live.
Yes... save this oak tree, and the hundreds of others surrounding it.... and the last remaining 2% of California's old growth forrests and on and on and on....
I am very proud of all of you who are out there putting your time and energy into this... I'm glad that people there are finally becomeing aware of what is going on. Thankyou.

There is no question that a 400 year old oak tree has more dignity and more right to life than the roads and cookie-cutter McMansions that devastate the land like cancer. By all means all decent people should join the fight against the spread of this cancer. Most of the "developers" aren't even real architects, but money-grubbers who actually believe that by destroying land, they are somehow contributing to the culture.

Much has been said about the decline of American values. Nowhere is this decay more apparent than in a developer's willingness to decimate a 400 year old oak tree, the embodiment of everything patient, persistent and noble in nature. To show such a callous disregard for life is by any measure "evil".

Perhaps the new Homeland Defense agency can be put to good use by protecting our environment against developers.

as a current home buyer in john laing's southern oaks grove, i'm ashamed and embarrased to admit it. we were never told that those beautiful majestic oak trees that drew us to that area, would be cut down. it's a very sad sign of the times.

lynne adams

A tree is part of the universal plan of harmony and balance to our earth's longevity. The more we cut into the universal harmony the less music for growth in the Oneness of all which includes trees - we'll continue to disappear until nothing exists.
Let the tree live!
How would you like to be cut down, bleed and have cement poured over you?
WARNING, I dare you to try this at home.

Blessings from a beautiful autum Oak leaf.

You know what ur all a bunch of whining hippies. Ive been down the area where this tree is and theres plenty of oak trees to go around. who cares how old the damn thing is? Plant a few off to the side somewhere if u like. Your all probubly the same people that feel self richeous for using recycled paper and are vegans and vegitarians. It takes alot of nasty chemicals to make recycled paper more so than to make plain paper. What did a worthless oak tree ever do for you? Please just go eat some fig newtons or something and let them have their road ur all wasting ur time.

John Deere is so cool, lets go to a monster truck rally sometime..

Fuckin a' im cool. Im the only one who knows how it is nowadays. Plus id like to add that i prolly account for 50% of the fossil fuel conscuption on my block. I have 3 cars and a boat all of which are big blocks and the best milage I have is in my truck which gets a hearty 11 mpg. And the worst being my boat which gets about 1 and pollutes lakes like no bodys buisness.
p.s. TOFU SUCKS!

wow, how impressive! ever think that our being a little insensitive though? i mean, i know its just a TREE... but i dunno...yeah okay nevermind, your right what was i thinking ;-)

ps. i still have yet so see 2 of those cars...

I am amazed by the stupidity of many people who have no clue what trees do for us everyday. How do you think you get oxygen to breath? Not all of these people are crazy and living in the 60's. Many of them are parents or children or even grandparents who realize this is just plain wrong and needs to stop. I have no idea how this man can sit in that tree everyday, but I believe he is doing the right thing for EVERYONE!!!! Please look and listen and think. Use your brain. Realize this must stop and there are other alternatives to this. No, it isn't just one tree. It is all those who fell before it and all those who will fall after it. THINK!

Bush Admirer posts to the site are in the hundreds.

He abuses the Indymedia Project’s community open publishing by pistol whipping anybody that’s not a “right wing whacko”. His actions are designed to disrupt or divert the flow of information by making B. A. the center of attention.

In open publishing jargon he is know as a TROLL!

I use the Cap. Peachfuzz rule with our resident robot parrots, but I’m certain most readers do. When a fool statement occurs without any possibility of support, or is so
idiotic like quoting something on Fox or that
silly twit Ann Coultare( and I hope I misspelled it ), we know some money
is changing hands as this dedicated lunacy
continues. We know why they are here. But I wonder why the resources are spent unless
there is a perceived threat to the policy of
information containment now used to validate the current system..
It could be a round up of dissenters by IP
tracking (You mean that you don’t believe that all of us are ALREADY on a Subversive Watch List?)
Sorry, I’m being seasonal.
Whew. Talk about dreaming at the wheel as
the cops go by.